Twinlab / Reserveage launch new products for sleep, heart health, and for her

The company used the recent Expo West show in Anaheim to discuss a raft of new products developed by collaborating with some big name experts.

Working with Dr Michael Breus (a.k.a. The Sleep Doctor​), the company is lining up a range of products aimed at enhancing natural sleep.

“The impetus for the new product was that almost every single person that shows up in our clinic with insomnia is using some kind of drug,” ​Dr Breus told us. “Pharmaceutical sleep is different to natural sleep.”​

Sleep is top of mind for many consumers, with data from the Datamonitor Consumer 2014 survey indicating that “insomnia” was tied for the fourth most prominent health issue of American consumers ranked by percentage, coming in behind stress, tiredness and fatigue (which itself is related to sleep), and allergy. The most worried demographic when it comes to insomnia was middle-age women.

This has led to a rapid growth in the sleep aid category in the US, which is reported to be growing at almost 30% year-on-year and predicted to hit $732 million in 2018, according to Euromonitor International.

The category is dominated by P&G’s ZzzQuil, while natural products and dietary supplements (including melatonin and herbs like Valerian) only occupy a small portion of the market. However, market research data​ have repeatedly shown consumers would prefer a “natural” alternative to “synthetic” OTC products.

Twinlab – Right on trend with sleep​

“The work with Twinlab includes consideration of the microbiome, because we get quality sleep when our guts are happy,” ​explained Dr Breus. The ingredients deck also includes herbal constituents, like lemon balm.

The new range, which will be co-branded as Twinlab ​ and The Sleep Doctor, will address the various different “flavors” of sleep issues, said Dr Breus, which could be linked to menopause or depression or pain or other issues.

The supplements, which are scheduled to launch in Q3 of this year, are the first line of supplements for Dr Breus.

Independent of Dr Breus, the company recently launched a couple of new products positioned for sleep called Dreamory​​ and Nightly One​​. The ingredient deck on Dreamory​ includes GABA, ashwagandha, lutein, zeaxanthin, tart cherry extract, valerian root, lemon balm, 5-hydroxytryptophan, and Apocynum venetum​. Nightly One​ is a multivitamin with additional GABA, L-theanine, melatonin, and PQQ. Dr Breus was not involved in those formulations.

BioAlaskan Omega​

The company also worked with Dr Jeff Bland to develop a new range of products called BioAlaskan Omega​, positioned for brain, joint, heart, immunity, and vision, and marketed under the Twinlab brand.

Dr Bland told NutraIngredients-USA that this began with a chance meeting with the owner of a fishing company that was sustainably fishing Alaskan cod and committed to using every part of the fish. The cod are caught using traditional lines, and are flash-frozen within one hour of being caught, and then cold-pressed to lock-in freshness and naturally occurring levels of nutrients.

The product, which is available as softgels and liquid, contain multiple bioactives, including DPA levels in addition to EPA and DHA. The extracts contain vitamin A and D, and specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPM). Resolvins and protectins are biological derivatives of EPA and DHA that have potent anti-inflammatory and cell protection properties. The level of SPMs in the extracts are the same as you observe in breast milk, said Dr Bland.

The products are produced at a pharmaceutical-grade plant in Alaska using proprietary manufacturing techniques.

“There has never been a truly natural cod liver oil like this,” ​said Dr Bland. “We’re very excited about it.”​

FibeHer & BeautiFlora​

Under the Reserveage​ brand, the company has also launched products formulated in collaboration with Brooke Alpert, RD. The first is called FibeHer​ with eight grams of fiber and five grams collagen per serving.

“This can help stabilize your blood sugar first thing in the morning or in the afternoon,”​ Alpert told us at Expo West.

Alpert also consulted on the formulation of Beautiflora Prebiotic + Probiotic​, formulated with PreticX xylooligosaccharides (XOS) and the LeanSpore probiotic blend of Bacillus coagulans​ and Bacillus subtilis​.